Contract manufacturer unifies enterprise view with operations software

Catalyst has standardized on the entire Aegis software suite. “Catalyst is aggressively expanding and believes [it] depends strongly on maintaining control and uniformity across our operations,” said CEO Jim Matthews.

By Control Engineering Staff September 11, 2008

Vestal, NY and Horsham, PA – Catalyst Manufacturing Services , a contract manufacturer in Vestal, NY, has standardized on the entire Aegis operations planning, execution, and analysis system for its multi-factory enterprise. Catalyst will use Aegis Data Miner and iMonitor real-time dashboards to “drive their growth in a controlled fashion via‘one version of the truth’ enterprise-wide,” according to Jim Matthews, CEO. Instant and real-time visibility of quality, utilization, and materials will support Catalyst’s expansion into new regions, while allowing the company to remain in total control of that expansion, he said. The Aegis system will also deliver faster and richer customer reporting and data fulfillment.

“Catalyst is aggressively expanding and believes that successful expansion depends strongly on maintaining control and uniformity across our operations. Our equipment sets are already standardized,” commented Matthews. “Our customers expect one experience regardless of the facility [that is] building their product. They want their product ready for launch quickly, the process to be perfectly controlled, and everything about our performance, quality, and traceability to be immediately available to them in real-time. Aegis supports our requirements via one system.”

The Catalyst vision of uniform operations, equipment sets, and information management across factories extends to the selection of enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology as well. Aegis is being integrated into these business systems to create a world-class distributed, but also uniform, enterprise. “The project will provide Catalyst a simplified and efficient IT system infrastructure with one business software system,” Matthews added.

The expectation is that integrated systems will accelerate Catalyst’s product launch cycle, from the receipt of customer data to the point at which all line programs and documentation are completed, approved, and dispatched electronically to the proper workstations on the shop floor. All shop-floor documentation, product tracking, traceability, quality collection, shop floor materials verification, and machine data acquisition will be integrated. All will be conducted on Aegis’ Web-based software platform.

Aegis CEO Jason Spera said, “Working with Catalyst during their evaluation process was exciting because they recognize the competitive advantage of a singular information system for factory operations. Their management team has significant experience with the problem in rapidly expanding EMS providers who allow information system fragmentation during their growth. Catalyst is adamant that they will not only avoid that problem, but also differentiate themselves in their market by avoiding it.”

Catalyst Manufacturing is a contract manufacturer with more than 30 years of experience in the industrial, medical, security/military, and telecom/datacom markets.

– Edited by Renee Robbins , senior editor Control Engineering News Desk Register here and scroll down to select your choice of eNewsletters free .


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